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On the one hand, they have willingly embraced the chinese in terms of economics and the chinese have considerable influence on aussie institutions and on the other hand, the aussies have always fancied themselves as not being any part of the asian setup and identify more with the europeans and are heavily influenced by the americans.

this quad business is entirely a sham. They are not our friends or even well wishers

+101, Australian (and Japanese) vote during ICJ elections is a clear indicator of their priorities. Australia is NATO's aircraft carrier in Asia, they will shoot at the target(s) designated by ANZUS neta.

As of now, everything is on paper. I think we have to see how this can evolve, but clearly Australia's left-wing parties are beholden to china. Japan has demonstrated that it wants to challenge chinese military hegemony -- the ICJ vote is inconsequential, since the ICJ and the UN are themselves of little consequence.

Labour party in Australia appears to be bought and paid for by the CCP/PLA.

"This comes at a time when members and senators are under intense scrutiny over whether they hold dual citizenship. Of the 226 Australians elected at the 2016 federal election, the person whose allegiance to Australia is most in question is Sam Dastyari," Mr Brandis said.

The Mosman meeting occurred more than a month after media reports in early September last year that ASIO's top spy, Duncan Lewis, had warned Labor "that some of their donors had strong links to the Chinese Government".

While this reduces chinese money in Australian elections, it does not preclude chinese interests in australia to fund the labour party politicians -- that is the next route the Chinese will explore through the wealthy Chinese expats in Australia. Still does not take away from the possibility of Australia swinging towards china down the line with a labour govt. in charge even as it is part of some security grouping.

On the one hand, they have willingly embraced the chinese in terms of economics and the chinese have considerable influence on aussie institutions and on the other hand, the aussies have always fancied themselves as not being any part of the asian setup and identify more with the europeans and are heavily influenced by the americans.

this quad business is entirely a sham. They are not our friends or even well wishers

+ 108 on this conclusion.

Olaf Caroe in his books had created a map of seven circles of power which is sort of geopolitical groupings way back in 1945.In that map he puts India and Australia in one of the groups.

Lt. Gen Cawthrone at that time the British Military Intelligence chief, later PAK ISI founder and finally Australia SIS was one of those study circle members.

Ever since then, Australia sees India as a rival and a threat.

So hell will freeze and China will take over Australia but they will always see India as a threat.

If you recall they dropped sonobuoys to get INS Mysore sonar signature while it was returning from a good will visit to Pacific region.

Normally its an act of war but as usual toothless India let them go.So I don't trust Australia.

On the one hand, they have willingly embraced the chinese in terms of economics and the chinese have considerable influence on aussie institutions and on the other hand, the aussies have always fancied themselves as not being any part of the asian setup and identify more with the europeans and are heavily influenced by the americans.

this quad business is entirely a sham. They are not our friends or even well wishers

+ 108 on this conclusion.

Olaf Caroe in his books had created a map of seven circles of power which is sort of geopolitical groupings way back in 1945.In that map he puts India and Australia in one of the groups.

Lt. Gen Cawthrone at that time the British Military Intelligence chief, later PAK ISI founder and finally Australia SIS was one of those study circle members.

Ever since then, Australia sees India as a rival and a threat.

So hell will freeze and China will take over Australia but they will always see India as a threat.

If you recall they dropped sonobuoys to get INS Mysore sonar signature while it was returning from a good will visit to Pacific region.

Normally its an act of war but as usual toothless India let them go.So I don't trust Australia.

I might trust Canada but not Aussies and New Zealand.Too much bile.

Those and other aussie sonobouys that the aussies dropped to pickup signatures of Indian ships would be conspicuously marked " From australia to russia with love, (through India)

India and Australia on Tuesday held their first ever dialogue involving defence and foreign secretaries, to discuss ways to ensure a “free” and “open” Indo-Pacific region, an Indian government statement said.

The India-Australia “2+2” dialogue comes almost exactly a month after officials of the two countries joined their counterparts from Japan and the US for talks also focussed on the Indo-Pacific region against the backdrop of a rising China.

It also comes a day after the Russia-India-China (RIC) meeting in New Delhi to boost collaboration in the Asia-Pacific region, where the three countries agreed to broaden their consultations.

India has a “2+2” dialogue with very few countries—Japan and South Korea being two examples. New Delhi and Washington are slated to hold a “2+2” dialogue between their ministers of foreign affairs and defence and secretaries of state and defence early next year.

According to an Indian foreign ministry statement, foreign secretary S. Jaishankar and defence secretary Sanjay Mitra sat down with their Australian counterparts, secretary of the department of foreign affairs and trade Frances Adamson and secretary of the department of defence Greg Moriarty.

“All aspects of bilateral relations with a focus on strategic and defence relations between the two countries were reviewed,” the statement said.

“India and Australia share warm bilateral relations based on shared democratic values and pluralism. There is a growing convergence of strategic perspectives between the two countries,” it said.

“Both sides agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large,” it added.

India and Australia were two members of the four-nation “quad” of major democracies in the Indo-Pacific region —also regarded as the possible nucleus of a probable new security architecture in Asia—that met in Manila last month on the margins of the East Asia Summit. The four countries are expected to come together for naval drills in the near future.

India conducts the Malabar naval exercises with the US and last year it was expanded to include Japan. Australia—which was part of the Malabar exercises in 2007—could rejoin the drill next year.

The exchanges come as the geostrategic term “Indo-Pacific” as opposed to “Asia-Pacific” has been gaining currency, thanks to increased use by US administration officials to refer to a large swathe of sea and land stretching from the US Pacific coast to Australia and beyond to India.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson made several references to the “Indo-Pacific region” in a speech at a think tank in Washington in October.

And days later, Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono said that Tokyo favoured a dialogue between Japan, the US, India and Australia to boost strategic partnership among these countries. More recently, US President Donald Trump referred to the term several times when he spoke to a group of business representatives from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping in Da Nang in Vietnam.

China has been warily eyeing the “quadrilateral exchanges” while stating its hope that the group and its actions were not directed against Beijing.

For those of us who were brought up watching the double standards of the western-dominated "competitions", this comes particulary hilarious. IMO an England-Australia or South Africa- Australia cricket series is a wonderful spectacle that sets new lows in behavior of the savage carnivorour predators, but this is a classic even by those standards.

UlanBatori wrote:For those of us who were brought up watching the double standards of the western-dominated "competitions", this comes particulary hilarious. IMO an England-Australia or South Africa- Australia cricket series is a wonderful spectacle that sets new lows in behavior of the savage carnivorour predators, but this is a classic even by those standards.

Buggers had to come on TV and confess that it was a "leadership decision" to cheat. Harbhajan Singh is in danger of hurting himself today, ROTFL. Thing is, despite the evidence glaring them on TV, the umpire-Pakis did not even award 5 runs as penalty!!! Remember what happened to the poor Pakis, courtesy of the racist umpiah in Britpakistan? This fellow hid a sand-studded tape between his fingers - that was certainly not spur-of-the-moment, it was what he has trained to do all career. Sarfraz Nawaz said the original Reberj Shwing used beer-bottle caps to scratch the ball.

Reminds me of the old definition of Basta*d:

One who stands around scratching his bal*s in church while his parents are getting married.

Here the fellow was standing around scratching his balls in plain view of 80,000 ppl.

This cheating episode confirms what me and others on this board have been saying for yrs.This is not just about cricket . This episode has done terrible damage to Australia the country. ICC has not learned anything from this and they won,t. This racist attitude ingrained in the bug*ers, one test ban for this kind of behaviour is nothing but a slap on the wrist. Every organisation under the thumb of these western Europeans whether it is World bank, IMF, United nations, WADA, IOC, Rating agencies or their "News Networks"are nothing but peddlers of lies . A culture truly based on hypocracy and lies and racism of the worst kind.India should get out of ICC and take control of cricket, of course without these Shukla,s and other cheats.

Before some Indian defender of these Goras jumps and says hum bhe to karte hain.The corruption in India is nothing to be proud of, but it is a result of damage to our economy and more importantly our culture by a thousand yrs of occupation.Ancient India was never known for thievery and lies. The foundation of Indian culture is very strong and corruption in India will correct itself over time, I am very sure. Of course all of us will continously have to try.

AoA! Begging the adminullah's indul-gentj but this is too good to not report. So Bancroft came out to bat as opener again. Numbers refer to Over.ball

0.2 Rabada to Bancroft, no run, didn't take long, did it? The crowd are booing Bancroft. He's been knocked around the mid riff region before the ball deflected off his pad. Inswinger..0.3 Rabada to Bancroft, 2 runs, it's getting more intense, the battle. Another delivery that moves in sharply and snicks Bancroft's inside edge on the push, his bat face turned on impact and guess that was too hot to handle for the Western Australian.3.1 Philander to Warner, no run, short and climbs into Warner's ribcage, he hops and drops it dead in the vicinity.4.1 Rabada to Bancroft, no run, hit on the elbow, bam! Bancroft doesn't read the swing on this, plays much sooner than he should have, the delivery tails back in, past the inside edge and clattttter on the flesh. Ouch!4.4 Rabada to Bancroft, no run, smashed in the groin! Bancroft's wobbled and it is showing in the way his feet are moving. Doesn't get anywhere in-line with this inswiger and takes a blow. Tough times {he might need that tape on his b**s after all!}5.1 They get three, but unfortunately the throw from the fielder smacks Bancroft on his back (while completing the third run). Not intentional though9.4 Morne Morkel to Warner, no run, extra bounce once again, lands short of length and goes onto crack Warner on the thigh11.2 Morne Morkel to Bancroft, no run, nips the ball back in off a length, Bancroft plays outside the line and gets struck around the groin, past his inside edge and wham!20.1 ...And look at the boooos from the crowd as Bancroft makes his walk back to the dressing room. ..Warner drives it to the right of cover, .. Bancroft hesitated and had no choice but to listen to his senior partner. Ends up sacrificing his wicket. Bancroft run out (du Plessis) 26

And he got 3 Demerits, which was an easy let-off by ICC, but I think CA bozos are going to unload on him too. From 58 for no loss, AusPakis crashed to 107 all out, and a 322-run defeat.

"Great white cheats".Greg Chappel...In famous underarm ball against NZ.("Aussies have an underarm problem", jibe from NZ!)Shane Warne and others, caught betting on their matches.( hushed up by the Oz. board)John Lever....Infamous " vaseline " test at Madras.(Used vaseline on the old ball to make it swing.He had done the same at the prev. test at Delhi and got 7 or 8 wkts with the old ball and Eng. won. Bedi called him a cheat and spoke about the Delhi test and the English pilloried him for saying so.Made fun of him in a cartoon as a Sikh bus conductor applying vaseline to the floorboard of the double-decker bus for passengers to slip!)Hansie Cronje of S.Africa-perhaps the most infamous incident of all until this Oz.cheating scandal.Involved in match fixing.Pakis fixing matches par for the course.They acknowledged it when caught out.Some Indian counterparts like Azhar etc. disgraced us too.

The most stringent penalties must be dished out.Ban for sev. matches for the entire gang involved for cheating, as in football.Lifetime bans for repeat offenders.

"Yes, there is still radiation here,” Mr. Matthews said as he drove a minibus to the sites where the Australian and British governments dropped seven bombs between 1956 and 1963 which dotted the earth with huge craters and poisoned scores of indigenous people and their descendants."

Statement of Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne post India’s strike on the Balakot Mohammadden Terrorism Training camp. Not the usual equal=equal statement that one is accustomed to:

India-Pakistan tensions over terrorist attack

Media release

26 February 2019

The Australian government is concerned about relations between India and Pakistan following the horrific terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on 14 February, which Australia has condemned.

India’s Foreign Secretary has stated that India has now conducted operations targeting terrorist groups based in Pakistan.

Pakistan must take urgent and meaningful action against terrorist groups in its territory, including Jaish-e-Mohammed which has claimed responsibility for the 14 February bombing, and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Pakistan must do everything possible to implement its own proscription of Jaish-e-Mohammed. It can no longer allow extremist groups the legal and physical space to operate from its territory.

These steps would make a substantial contribution to easing tensions and resolving the underlying causes of conflict.

Australia urges both sides to exercise restraint, avoid any action which would endanger peace and security in the region and engage in dialogue to ensure that these issues are resolved peacefully.

Another feather in the cap for PRC's OBOR/BRI/String of Pearls or whatever else they choose to call it. Its being projected as a strategic blunder but PRC is aggressively buying up northern Australia, something not even Imperial Japan could achieve at the height of its domination. Chinese have atleast 2 large airfields in Western Australia and now a port just shy of the American Marines base in Darwin. This capitulation of Oz will only increase in speed during the years to come.

Also, looks like the f**kup happened during Turnbull's time, so looks like its not just the Labour party that is funded by CCP. Of course, any Aussie would say that Turnbull was more of a Labour PM himself.

Leasing one of Australia's most important strategic assetsThe simple reason why is "stupidity", said Neil James, executive director of the Australia Defence Association (ADA).

how the hell was the sun-soaked NT Government allowed to lease off one of Australia's most important strategic assets to the Chinese without proper federal oversight?

Here's how. For years, the NT had lobbied the Commonwealth to invest millions in developing the rinky-dink Darwin Port that was only turning over a few million dollars annually in cattle, mining and gas interests.

Successive governments believed the port held the cure to the NT's economic maladies and that if it could be expanded and maintained, it would surely be a secret weapon in the NT's economic resurgence — and the rest of the nation's by extension — as Australia's "gateway to Asia".

But for years, the Federal Government didn't see its potential — or at least not enough to invest in it.

'A seriously dumb idea': ADALandbridge Industry Australia is a subsidiary of Shandong Landbridge Group, which has interests in port logistics, petrochemicals, timber and real estate development in China.

It has also worked with state-owned companies like China National Petroleum Corporation, which supplies oil to Landbridge and allows it to sell fuel at retail pumps.

Its billionaire owner Ye Cheng had been named by the Chinese Government in 2013 as one of the top 10 "individuals caring about the development of national defence" and the company was later found to have extensive links to the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army.

In an interview in Beijing in 2016, Mr Ye said the Darwin Port investment fit the company's strategy to expand its shipping and energy interests and served China's foreign policy goal known as One Belt, One Road — an initiative the Australian Commonwealth has still not signed up to, citing security concerns raised by intelligence agencies.

Do read the entire article, full of great gems, like this one:

Jodie Ryan, who sat on the selection panel that chose Landbridge and was later promoted to the role of head public servant after the Gunner Labor Government's 2016 election victory, said the long-term risks of leasing the port to a Chinese-owned company were "considered as part of the assessment" and that "substantial due diligence was undertaken and involved independent financial and legal advisers".

"If Landbridge are no longer able to run the port it returns to NT government control," she said.

But this may not be entirely accurate, according to experts.

Lawyers familiar with the contract have told the ABC it has loopholes, including no such clause that would see it revert back to NT government control if Landbridge were to go bankrupt.

The issue was raised in 2017, when reports surfaced that Landbridge was trying to use the port as collateral for a loan, given its failing cash revenues.

When Mr Morrison was treasurer, his office stopped answering emailed questions about the contract and invitations to show where precisely it states any Australian body can take control back.

Mr James said he had other concerns about the claims that the port would revert back to the NT government control.

"This is an alarmingly simplistic argument," he said.

"In a serious crisis, the last thing you would want to do is escalate it by taking the port back by the private lessee, if the private lessee is from a country that is very likely to be causing the strategic crisis in the first place.

The NT hired "boutique" Melbourne financial firm Flagstaff Partners to help choose the winning bidder, and ended up paying about $13 million out of $27 million total in fees charged to taxpayers to broker the deal.

Flagstaff managing partner David Potaznik was hired shortly after the deal was finalised by Landbridge Group to sell a 20 per cent stake that needed to remain in Australian hands.

So, the man who helped lease the port to Landbridge then went to work for Landbridge, and was involved in selling the 20 per cent stake, which the new NT Government ended up taking over in 2017 for no cost.

Mr Potaznik claimed to the Australian Financial Review in 2016 that he had not spoken to Landbridge officials about working for them until "well after the lease transaction was completed".

And, there's more:

FIRB chairman Brian Wilson told the committee he had become aware of the deal in late 2014 and asked for a response from Defence and intelligence agencies a few times in 2015, but was repeatedly told that Defence had no issue with the deal.

It was also later revealed that the Defence officials were only middle management, and that senior figures and the Minister of Defence only learned of the deal hours before the NT government announced it publicly.

"It was an inexcusable stuff-up by the federal government and various departments, but that doesn't excuse the NT government making this parochial, stupid decision in the first place," Mr James said.